


A Yarn for All Occasions

by Hokuto



Series: Durandal and the Security Officer's Excellent Adventures [18]
Category: Marathon (Video Games)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Gen, Gift Giving, Hobbies, Original Character(s), Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21913015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hokuto/pseuds/Hokuto
Summary: F'tha was the one who, with their exploration of Terran media to better understand Mark and Durandal, discovered the strange process.
Relationships: Durandal & Security Officer, F'tha & Security Officer
Series: Durandal and the Security Officer's Excellent Adventures [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/51476
Comments: 16
Kudos: 15
Collections: Seven Days of Marathon 2019





	A Yarn for All Occasions

**Author's Note:**

> For the extremely delightful Seven Days of Marathon prompt, "The S'pht become curious about some human hobby, like knitting." I'M SORRY I JUST HAD TO.

F'tha was the one who, with their exploration of Terran media to better understand Mark and Durandal, discovered the strange process.

"We already know that humans must cover themselves to protect their flesh from many hazards," they explained to an audience of other interested S'pht from several clans, "but they also have great difficulty in regulating their own body temperatures, so they wear supplementary coverings such as 'hats' and 'scarves.' And ones called 'gloves' for their many fingers. They often buy these clothes, but there is a method by which they can make them themselves, and to make them for another human is a mark of great affection."

"I would think that the affection would be showed by purchasing them instead," said Yr'fa, who had attended several other lessons by F'tha. "Humans seem to place a great importance on money, so spending money for very good clothes would surely be better than making them."

Undeterred, F'tha said, "This is also true. The process of making the clothes can be very long and difficult, however, so that is considered similar to the money in worth, and sometimes more so. The process can also be done for less of the money, so humans who have only small amounts of money can still show affection."

The gathered S'pht contemplated the concept for a few moments. Then Mn'rhi said, "How does the process work?"

"Very simply. First, you must have a special rope called 'yarn,' and then also a kind of needle..."

* * *

It was a scarf. It was definitely a scarf. It was - so, so much scarf.

Mark picked one soft, bright red loop out of the multicolored heap and said, "It's, uh, beautiful. Really thoughtful of you."

"We wish to help you regulate your temperature to show our affection," Mn'rhi said proudly. "Each of us has made a part because of our care for you. Please wear this whenever you like."

Mark had just finished a workout, with sweat soaking through his T-shirt and shorts, and outside of that one catastrophic systems failure, the ship's temperature held pretty steady around 26 degrees C. Wearing a scarf sounded like torture. "Really thoughtful," he said again. "I will definitely do that. Sometime soon. Thank you. It's just - so kind."

"We will make you the other clothes for warmth soon. We are still learning the many uses of the needles."

"Oh. Great." What was he supposed to do, put a hat on top of his helmet so the Pfhor could shoot it off? It was a sweet thought, it really was, but - _why_.

"And then we will find a way to create a gift for Durandal."

"Oh, _great_."

* * *

The hat was a shade of orange that wouldn't have looked out of place in an active lava flow, but it did fit on Mark's head. Basically. And it was kind of nice to tuck under his helmet when he ended up somewhere chilly.

The hand coverings were - an attempt. An attempt that Mark could genuinely respect, considering how freaked out the S'pht got about human hands, but couldn't wear; the "palm" was about the size of his entire hand, the "fingers" were barely an inch long if that, and there were five of them, plus a weird blob approximately where the thumb should be. F'tha had presented the things with such happiness that he couldn't imagine getting rid of them and settled for the excuse that they were "too nice to wear," which meant he could get away with just displaying them in the front room of his quarters.

After that, things went quiet for a few days. Mark gave the twenty-foot-long scarf a test run while picking up supplies on a particularly frigid trading planet and had to admit it was effective, if kind of constricting, and Yr'fa presented him with a shorter solo effort in shades of blue that he could wear without wrapping it around himself six times. He was starting to think that the S'pht's little fad might have passed without too much trouble.

Then he went down to Engineering one day just to chat and found an entire hallway festooned with green banners of yarn in complicated knots.

"Do you approve?" Lharro asked him while he was still staring at the banners. "We are still trying to create an appropriate gift for Durandal, who does not require clothes. Perhaps a decoration is similar enough to clothing?"

"Uh."

"We can make the flags much larger," said Lharro. "And the symbols, so they can be read clearly. They will tell the stories of our many triumphs and Durandal's strength and cleverness."

"Cleverness. Yeah," Mark said. "Look. Maybe don't rush into anything. I'll figure something out. I - forgot something in my room. See you again in a few?"

The instant he was in back in his quarters, Durandal said, "If they try to yarn-bomb my core, I will set them on fire. All of them."

"Oh, come on. They're just trying to be nice."

"On fire!"

"And here I thought you'd enjoy having giant victory banners hanging all over the ship."

"Not in my core, I don't. Stop them."

"Or you could do your own dirty work for once. Just ask them to keep the stuff where it can't leak fibers into your circuits or whatever the hell you're worried about. You know they'll do it."

Durandal didn't have a smart response for that, which Mark suspected meant that Durandal was too soft-hearted to tell the S'pht he didn't want their presents himself but also too much of an asshole to admit it out loud. "Okay," Mark said. "I'll break the bad news. You're gonna owe me one."

"Fine."

Wow. No argument. Durandal was serious about this one, for whatever reason. "You got it. One gentle let-down from a third party, coming right up."

Lharro seemed to take Mark's explanation that Durandal already knew how much the S'pht cared about him and didn't want them to go to any extra effort to show it pretty well; their gem dimmed slightly, but they said, "I understand. I will discuss this with the others."

"That's good," Mark said, relieved. "It's just - yeah. Already feeling so appreciated. Anyway. Let's go find Mn'rhi and pick out a really terrible holovid and just chill out for a while, okay?"

"Yes."

* * *

Three days later, he woke up sweltering and found himself buried under a thick purple blanket, F'tha hovering beside the bed.

"What," Mark croaked. "What the hell?"

"We have decided," F'tha said. "If Durandal does not wish for gifts, we will give them to you. In this way, by showing our care for you, we show our care for Durandal, knowing that Durandal cares for your welfare as well."

"Oh, God."

"Don't blame this one on me," Durandal said. "I didn't even suggest the color. If you ask nicely, maybe they'll be able to knit you a nice pair of brass knuckle covers."

"You'd better hope not, because I'd use them to punch your lights out."

"Is the warmth sufficient?" F'tha asked.

Mark sighed. "Yeah, F'tha. It's - sufficient. Thank you."

"Because we will make more if they are required."

"Thanks, no, it's definitely sufficient."


End file.
